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Brad_MI

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Everything posted by Brad_MI

  1. I don’t know if I saw this view in the pages above, but I wonder if this was a result of the failed Free Agent Defenseman signings the past two years. I could see a scenario where Adams was wanting to fix the Top 4 D (or, the Top 6) and didn’t want to try to rely on another Free Agent that you’re hoping slides into 4D role, but fails (Lybushkin, Clifton, and maybe kind of E Johnson - obviously debatable, but none of them were brought in to sit in the press box). This way, the D is solidified to some combination of Dahlin, Power, Byram, Samuelson, and two of Jokiharu, R Johnson, or Clifton. Even in some off years, there’s at least 4, and probably 5-6, legitimately good NHL Defenseman in there. Like others mentioned, my guess is that it also included some motivation that Mittlestadt wasn’t going to be paid likely market rate by the Sabres, wasn’t going to take a discount, and we weren’t going to pay our three centers all in the range of $7M per year. It hurts our Forward core currently, for sure. You don’t trade away your leading scorer in the current season and get better instantly. I am hopeful though that this means we’re either; a) Confident in Kulich or Rosen or b) Looking at other Forward options in trade or free agency, where maybe Adams was more confident in being successful than the recent Defense Free Agent failures I’d really like to see Adams use some draft capitol or prospects to get another Top 6 Forward in the off-season, and maybe sign 1-2 other depth Forwards. That, along with re-signing Lukkonnen, would make me feel better about Mittlestadt trade. If Adams does nothing else to improve the Forward ranks, this will feel pretty disappointing.
  2. Seems like it’s Torrey Krug, refusing to waive NTC… I think I’d pass…? Smaller, left shot D, one of his bigger impacts being power play, with three (?) years remaining at just over $6M. I’d struggle to see that as a great fit. Doesn’t help the off-hand stuff plus wouldn’t be in line for PP time. Thoughts?
  3. Do the Sabres get to keep Jason Payne, coach of the Cyclones? Seems like he had a really good year, and there were a few pretty good comments about him during pre-season and Development Camp.
  4. Im conflicted on Thrun… sounds like a good prospect, but I’m just getting over being told over and over again that Sean Malone and Ryan Fitzpatrick went to Harvard by the play-by-play guys. Not sure I’m ready to hear that multiple times a game again.
  5. Don’t think it’s going to happen. Don’t think it’s the right move. No need for that.
  6. It is interesting that Chychrun was spotted flying from St Louis to Denver… which connects to a lot of the Western cities being rumored…plus LA, where the Sabres play Monday. For the record - I don’t think it’s the right move. Just intriguing that basically every rumored team out west apparently “isn’t” the team.
  7. The few I listen to for some pretty-regular long drives; Maintenance Day Sabres Live Expected Buffalo Cautiously Optimistic with Joe and Luke 32 Thoughts (not Sabres specific, but I like Friedman and Marek a lot for general NHL news)
  8. The CPK line, because they are statistically capable…? Sorry for anyone who hates Statistics not used in hockey
  9. Would be incredible to get him as another high end wing into the Sabres NHL ready-now pool. However, if Quinn or Cozens if involved, then it better be Robertson + the 1999 Stanley Cup coming back…
  10. I’m thinking this was the best possible outcome as of 12:00 today when FA started. After Husso, Talbot, etc trades, and the likely Keumper, Campbell, etc signings, I think Comrie was the last realistic goalie for Buffalo that could provide real upside (21-22 stats being I think 16 games played at a .920 SV%). Hope it works out and he ends up being a guy that could do the 30-40-50 games…
  11. Obviously Husso could turn into Hutton version 2.0 but that 3 year deal at $4.75M, in our division, to a team not expected to make the playoffs this year, feels like a really big missed opportunity
  12. Not sure if people are saying “I truly don’t understand the odds / money line” or “I wish announcers did a better job explaining to casual fans” If the first, I’ll try and contribute; The + / - in gambling odds ends up being fairly simple. It’s all in relation to $100. A “-xxx” number means the amount of money, at that moment in time, you need to wager to win $100. So, if a team is “-225”, you would need to wager $225 to win your original bet ($225) plus an additional $100. This is the favorite of the game. A “+xxx” is the amount of money won on a $100 bet. So, if a team is “+200”, you would win a total of $300 (your original $100 back, plus winnings of an additional $200). This team is the underdog of the game. Similar concept for over / under. You’ll notice the numbers never match. This is how the sports book makes money. The slight difference in odds means that they will take home some percentage in between the two betting pools.
  13. I think no one of the Top 9 is traded. Agree about “tiers” of players for the Buffalo Top 9; Locks: Thompson, Tuch, Skinner, Cozens, Krebs Likely: Middlestadt, Quinn I think “The Plan”: Peterka, Oloffson Back-Up: Hinostroza, Okposo, Girgensons to fill in if Quinn (unlikely), Middlestadt (unlikely) or Peterka (50-50) can’t hold a top 9 role, otherwise play Fourth line. I think if Peterka can’t hold the spot, send him back to AHL . This puts me thinking the lines might be; Skinner - Thompson - Tuch Krebs - Cozens - Quinn Oloffson - Mittlestadt - Peterka Then, I think it’s a fourth line that could fill In for injuries, or provide a good shutdown as needed. Didn’t speculate too much, but I think Hinostroza is re-signed… I don’t love the stack up though, I’d really like to have Hinostroza and Okposo both in the lineup; TBD - Girgensons - Okposo Hinostroza
  14. Fair assessment to add role players for fourth line. For Krebs - Mittlestadt - Quinn, you definitely might be correct on lack of physicality hurting their effectiveness. In this hypothetical situation, I’d kind of be hoping that this is a line that could work in the future as players mature and just out-skill other teams. I’d be hoping that Quinn could benefit from other playmakers and just clean up opportunities. And yeah, if it didn’t work, then at least you’d have a good data point on needing at least one forward with some physical presence on that line.
  15. Would love to see, towards the end of the year, something like the following to hopefully start the planning process for next year; Skinner - Cozens - Tuch Krebs - Mittlestadt - Quinn Asplund - Thompson - Oloffson Girgensons - Jankowski - Okposo Trade / Press Box? - Eakin, Hinostroza, Bjork Dahlin - Jokiharu Samuelson - Pysyk Bryson - Hagg Trade / Press Box? - Miller, Butcher, Boychuk (sarcasm…) I’d be hoping that the top three lines here would at least be able to see if there’s some sort of chemistry. Ideally, it gives you an idea of potential free agent targets or re-signing yes/no. Then, maybe you’d have some semblance of a depth chart that you could extrapolate “Adding Peterka and Power gives us…” and then could address any remaining holes and depth via free agency.
  16. Good points - just used post draft as a starting point because you have to use “sometime” as a starting point. We’ve been bad for a while…so it’s hard to pick a point in time and say “Have we been tanking since (insert post ‘Existence of the Sabres’ speech here), or have we not been tanking?”. I used post-Draft because I think most people point to that moment in time of going from not good to then extremely bad. Otherwise; For Eichel - Im assuming that “rebuild” or “no rebuild” doesn’t change his medical status. I don’t think Adams is including this years teams results in his handling of the surgery discussion, similar to a Tim Murray / Trading for injured E Kane scenario. Could be wrong. For Reinhart / McCabe / Ullmark - I’m assuming none of these players would have stayed for a contract amount that would have been good for cap space in the future. I don’t think any of us can know what it would have taken, but, for example, I don’t think I would have advocated for Ullmark at, say, $6-7M a year for 5 years (assuming from reports that we did offer Ullmark $5M and he took Boston’s instead). For Risto - I think that was a good move. I think he’s a replaceable player that we got good value for. If we’re a contending team, I think Buffalo then goes and gets another Risto-type player in Free Agency. The baseline assumption here I’m making is that a contending team Does NOT have Risto as a 1A/1B defenseman, and so we would not be relying on his replacement on the top pair. For free agents, yep, maybe we could have signed players like Danault or Wennberg or someone… I still think it takes a high dollar amount to get FA on this specific Buffalo team and I think it’s an ugly contract in 2-3 years. Could be wrong. A lineup of below (don’t crucify it, just thinking out loud for “keep the core, add pieces, don’t mortgage future”) I still don’t know makes playoffs. Again, could be wrong. Skinner - Eichel - Reinhart Oloffson - Danault - Cozens Thompson - Mitts - Asplund Oloffson - Girgs - Okposo R2 or, slot in another FA / Trade top six winger and slide others down Dahlin - Joker McCabe - Risto / Replacement FA? - Miller / Samuelson / Etc Ullmark 1B FA goalie Good points though. Fun talking about it, as opposed to just talking about whether they lose 55 or 60 games this year….
  17. I think “Not Tanking”… ”Tanking” implies purposefully having a bad team, to lose on purpose, to get a high draft pick. I think the Sabres are just in a position that to improve the team to a level beyond “Bottom 3(ish) in the NHL bad” would take such a huge amount of trade capital and (likely bad) free agent contracts to get it done, that it would negatively affect the franchise for the long term future. Obviously, you could; Trade Jack quickly for cheap, maybe for a Middle 6 and a Mid Level Starting Goalie (I know, cap has to work, other team has to accept medical conditions, etc, this is just hypothetical) Trade Draft Picks for Middle 6 forward and/or a Second Pair Defenseman Sign a few free agents to fill out the roster - Probably taking on a few contracts that will be terrible in two years Etc, etc. ….and does that team compete for playoffs? I think No… so, why mortgage the future by trading draft picks and signing bad contracts? Just limit the damage to hopefully this year and not significantly beyond it, coincidentally get a high draft pick for 2022, and hope your young players continue to positively develop instead of crater because of the losing
  18. First time posting, but been following SabreSpace for a long time for news, thoughts, etc. Saw this thread, loved the optimism, and figured I had to sign up and give my thoughts. Kudos to the original poster. I’m figuring there are two paths for the Sabres to actually make the playoffs. Neither are likely, but again, love the summer optimism; a) Eichel stays, is healthy, and plays like someone looking to increase their trade value by putting up 100 points. Skinner, along Eichel, scores about 35 goals, and the two of them uplift Bjork (off-hand), Quinn, JJP, or someone to a serviceable 1RW. Others, like Mitts/Asplund/Thompson form a good second line, Cozens shines as the 3C with a couple decent line mates that cause match-up problems. Girgs/Okposo/somebody provide a good checking, shutdown 4th line. Dahlin, Joki take big steps and each anchor a pairing. McCabe returns, plays well. Some combo of Miller/Hagg/Samuelson/Laaksonen/Power (hopefully not Power) round out a serviceable defense. Ullmark resigned, plays like a 1A and keeps them in a lot of games/ steals some. Back-up 1B is signed, plays well in 30 games or so, hopefully goes about .500. b) Eichel traded. This is harder…all of below is unlikely, but it’s fun to hope; I think you’d have to hope for someone , maybe a UFA, that could step into the 1C slot and at least keep up. Then, I think you’re hoping for some of the same things as above, just with maybe a different usage. First line plays a defensive-zone skewed usage. Maybe this is Danault if we could get him (doubtful), or someone that could handle that role. Basically, negate the other teams top line. Mitts/Asplund/Thompson form a good second line with offensive-skewed deployment. More of a 1B ice time. Cozens takes a huge step forward as the 3C, drives the line, and they provide a scoring surplus that gives the Sabres a buffer. Maybe Skinner on his wing, if you can find a 1LW that could play a better 2-way game. Girgs/Okposo/somebody provide a good checking, shutdown 4th line. Defense then needs to shine… Dahlin takes a HUGE step forward and becomes a true 1D, driving play, shutting down other teams top lines, and QBing the power play. Joki anchors second pairing. Assuming this is a development year (If Eichel traded, focus is probably development and Power / Laaksonen aren’t in NHL), then everyone else on D has basically a career year…. Ullmark resigned, steals a TON of games. 1B goalie, a UFA signing, plays lights out too. Either scenario; Granato lives up to the hype as a development coach, helps the kids out, while also keeping up with X’s and O’s plus in-game adjustments Atlantic division is nowhere near as difficult as it appears… Montreal 20-21 is a fluke, they take a step back. Toronto has an off year due to cap crunch / defense issues. Boston gets one year older and Buffalo splits with them. Florida struggles with Bob in net and then a hopefully-inconsistent Knight playing most of the season. Detroit steals some games from other teams but Buffalo sweeps them. All unlikely. Anyway, glad to be here! Live in Ann Arbor, so hoping to see Power and Portillo this year in person, and looking forward to seeing development this year for Sabres that make me feel good about 22-23, 23-24.
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